Environmental pollution and associated health hazards to host communities (Case study: Niger delta region of Nigeria)

Document Type : Research paper

Author

University of Maiduguri, PMB 1069 Maiduguri, Nigeria

Abstract

Niger River Delta located in Nigeria supplies the economic necessities which situates it firmly in the Comity of Nations and sustains its enviable position in the world map as Africa’s largest economy and the most endowed country of the world. Over the years, this natural endowment which expectedly should have enhanced the regional peoples’ welfare (not neglecting other regions though) has unfortunately become a trouble. To say that the Niger Delta is suffering would be such a mild interpretation to the gross disaster which has been plaguing not just its human population but other inhabitants–all living creatures–of all other habitats. This investigation focuses on the health hazards associated with environmental pollution in the region. It concludes that these hazards can be contained through a series of recommendations which include financial confederalism and upward review of revenue allocation to the region.
 

Graphical Abstract

Environmental pollution and associated health hazards to host communities (Case study: Niger delta region of Nigeria)

Highlights

  • Upward review of financial allocation to states of the region through the Ministry of Niger Delta affairs.
  • Equitable sharing of the harvest from the region.
  • Financial confederalism as the formula for managing all mineral deposits in the nation.
  • A review of the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with a view to comprehensively addressing maladministration in the commission.
  • Material relief and immediate and long-term medical care are also recommended, irrespective of the cause of the spill, to ensure that the potential health effects of the exposures to the spills are properly addressed.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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